• Julie Toubiana, Clément Poirault, Alice Corsia, Fanny Bajolle, Jacques Fourgeaud, François Angoulvant, Agathe Debray, Romain Basmaci, Elodie Salvador, Sandra Biscardi, Pierre Frange, Martin Chalumeau, Jean-Laurent Casanova, Jérémie F Cohen, and Slimane Allali.
• Department of General Paediatrics and Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Necker-Enfants Malades University Hospital, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Université de Paris, 149 rue de Sèvres, 75015 Paris, France.
• BMJ. 2020 Jun 3; 369: m2094.

ObjectivesTo describe the characteristics of children and adolescents affected by an outbreak of Kawasaki-like multisystem inflammatory syndrome and to evaluate a potential temporal association with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.DesignProspective observational study.SettingGeneral paediatric department of a university hospital in Paris, France.Participants21 children and adolescents (aged ≤18 years) with features of Kawasaki disease who were admitted to hospital between 27 April and 11 May 2020 and followed up until discharge by 15 May 2020.Main Outcome MeasuresThe primary outcomes were clinical and biological data, imaging and echocardiographic findings, treatment, and outcomes. Nasopharyngeal swabs were prospectively tested for SARS-CoV-2 using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and blood samples were tested for IgG antibodies to the virus.Results21 children and adolescents (median age 7.9 (range 3.7-16.6) years) were admitted with features of Kawasaki disease over a 15 day period, with 12 (57%) of African ancestry. 12 (57%) presented with Kawasaki disease shock syndrome and 16 (76%) with myocarditis. 17 (81%) required intensive care support. All 21 patients had noticeable gastrointestinal symptoms during the early stage of illness and high levels of inflammatory markers. 19 (90%) had evidence of recent SARS-CoV-2 infection (positive RT-PCR result in 8/21, positive IgG antibody detection in 19/21). All 21 patients received intravenous immunoglobulin and 10 (48%) also received corticosteroids. The clinical outcome was favourable in all patients. Moderate coronary artery dilations were detected in 5 (24%) of the patients during hospital stay. By 15 May 2020, after 8 (5-17) days of hospital stay, all patients were discharged home.ConclusionsThe ongoing outbreak of Kawasaki-like multisystem inflammatory syndrome among children and adolescents in the Paris area might be related to SARS-CoV-2. In this study an unusually high proportion of the affected children and adolescents had gastrointestinal symptoms, Kawasaki disease shock syndrome, and were of African ancestry.© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

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